No walk-over for Ferrari
After the pre-season testing, everybody expected a walk-over for Ferrari this season. However, after two races the situation is completely different. Ferrari is currently only third in the championship standings as McLaren takes the lead, followed by surprise of the season: BMW Sauber.
During the pre-season testing, the gap between BMW Sauber and the front runners was still rather large. But after the final pre-season test of the team at Barcelona, the team eyed stronger. And this was proven during the first two races of the season. Both Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica already got to climb on the podium and they both collected points in every race. This is more than can be said from Ferrari.
The Australian Grand Prix was a disaster for the red team. Felipe Massa had to retire and Kimi Raikkonen, who got to start from the middle of the pack made too many mistakes to make it to the front. He also was forced to retire, but collected one championship point. In Malaysia, the team seemed to be back as Felipe Massa took pole position. Although, the Brazilian again spun out of the race. Luckily, Ferrari can always count on their World Champion. Kimi took his first victory of the season.
McLaren has made a better start of the season. The team is currently leading the championship. In Australia, Lewis Hamilton won the race while team mate Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth behind Fernando Alonso. At Malaysia, both drivers were again in the points. Heikki collected his first podium finish for McLaren while his British team mate ended up in 5th place.
The only thing that can be said after two races is that BMW Sauber is much stronger than initially thought by its rivals Ferrari and McLaren. At the moment, the top teams even see BMW as their biggest threat.
Norbert Haug said: "For me, BMW is a serious rival. After two races they are five points behind us. This is obviously nothing. They seem to have the speed, so next time perhaps they will already be right out the front."
Also Ferrari's team principal Stefano Domenicali believes that BMW is a big rival for the title: “They are there. We need to respect them a lot, and we do, because they are in a position to take points away from us.”
The championship standings after two races are as follows:
Drivers Championship:
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 14
2. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 11
3. Nick Heidfeld BMW 11
4. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 10
5. Robert Kubica BMW 8
6. Nico Rosberg Williams 6
7. Fernando Alonso Renault 6
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 5
9. Kazuki Nakajima Williams 3
10. Mark Webber Red Bull 2
11. Sebastien Bourdais STR 2
12. David Coulthard Red Bull 0
13. Jenson Button Honda 0
14. Nelsinho Piquet Renault 0
15. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 0
16. Rubens Barrichello Honda 0
17. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 0
18. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 0
19. Timo Glock Toyota 0
20. Felipe Massa Ferrari 0
21. Adrian Sutil Force India 0
22. Sebastian Vettel STR 0
Constructors' Championship:
1 McLaren-Mercedes 24
2 BMW 19
3 Ferrari 11
4 Williams 9
5 Renault 6
6 Toyota 5
7 Red Bull 2
8 STR 2
9 Honda 0
10 Force India 0
11 Super Aguri 0
